Chuckling, Harris guided me back to his car and placed me in the passenger seat. Dinner, I told my screaming body. Then a little while at First Bass. I could be patient. Really, I could.
Damn it.
Chapter 10
Harris
Finish dinner. Give her the present I got her. Back to First Bass.
I kept repeating those three things over and over in my head, reminding myself that I needed to follow that plan. That was the safe route, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. If we did what I really wanted, we would have already been back at my apartment, in my bed, and she would have already been screaming my name.
I shifted in the booth, trying to ease some of the pressure against my fly where my dick was trying to tear its way through. Lucy sat across from me at our private booth, smiling and talking animatedly as she ate her favorite dinner—chicken parmesan with lots of garlic knots. I was trying to make this as special for her as possible, but my lower body was trying to make this all about me.
Fucking hell, I just wanted to sink deep inside her tight little body and stay there for eternity. Was that so bad?
No. It damn well wasn’t so bad. Not now that she was eighteen. I could touch her without regret now. I could make her mine in every sense of the word.
It wasn’t going to happen tonight, though. Not when I still had to get through the rest of the night with our friends. Maybe we could sneak into my office later and we could make out for an hour or two.
“Am I talking too much?”
I lifted my gaze from where it had been trained on her lips. I hadn’t heard half of what she’d been saying because I’d been too captivated by that luscious mouth and what I wanted to do to it. What I wanted it to be doing to me. “No,” I told her honestly. “I’m just thinking about kissing you.”
Her eyes clouded with desire. She set her knife and fork down and wiped her mouth. “I really wish you would. You’ve barely touched me today.”
I reached for her hand and linked our fingers together. “I’m aching to touch you, sweetness. But I know the second I do, this day is over. I want this birthday to be perfect for you. I don’t want to end it by rushing you into bed with me.”
Her fingers tightened on mine. “Maybe I want to be rushed,” she murmured in a voice that had me shuddering with the effort to hold back.
Dinner. Present. Club.
Dinner. Present. Club.
Her damp, pink tongue left her mouth and skimmed over her bottom lip. Holy fucking hell.
Dinner.
Present.
Club.
“You’re evil, you know that?”
Her smile was flirty, her laugh soft and musical. “Yeah, babe. I know.”
Shaking my head, I reached into my pocket with my free hand and pulled out the jewelry box I’d asked the clerk to wrap for me when I’d bought it the week before. Placing the silver-wrapped gift on the table between us, I tried to distract her in hopes that it would distract me.
Dark brown eyes widened when she saw the small box. “What’s this?”
I shrugged. “Happy birthday, Lucy.”
Her hand trembled as she pulled it free of mine and reached for the small box with both hands, as if it weighed enough that she would need them both. “Please tell me that isn’t a ring, Harris.”
I snorted. “No, sweetness. That is definitely not a ring. We have a while before I hand over a diamond that big.” I winked when her head snapped up. “Relax, beautiful. Open your present.”
Her fingers still shook a little as she unwrapped the box and then lifted the lid. Her soft gasp told me she liked it even before she lifted out the diamond hoops. “You really shouldn’t have done this.”
“They weren’t that expensive,” I told her. Actually, they had cost a little more than I wanted her to know, but that didn’t matter. I had plenty of money and I wanted to spend it on her. I knew she didn’t like it, thought I was wasting money when I bought her things, so there was no way in hell I was going to tell her I’d spent ten grand on her. “Will you wear them for me tonight?”
She lifted reached up to take the studs out of her first earring hole and put them in the second before putting the hoops in. “How do they look?”
“Beautiful,” I assured her, but I wasn’t just talking about the earrings. She was so damn beautiful, it hurt. “Do you like them?”
“I love them. Thank you, Harris.”
Because the temptation to kiss her was so much stronger now, I quickly asked for the check and got us the hell out of there. The drive to First Bass was quick. Neither of us spoke as we held hands and listened to one of her favorite satellite radio channels. “Jace will be on here one day.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know he will be.”
“What are you going to do when Tainted Knights’ contract is over?” She was playing with my fingers and I was sure she didn’t even realize that she was doing it.
“I have a few other bands lined up. I asked Dad and Natalie to take a listen to their audition CDs to help me choose, but I’ve got it narrowed down to three.” I was really going to miss Jace when Tainted Knights left, but I knew that, with Emmie as their manager, they were going to go far. I just hoped that the new band I picked for another year contract would bring in the fans like Tainted Knights still continued to do.
Pulling up in front of the club, I turned my car over to the valet instead of parking it myself. I opened Lucy’s door and helped her out before giving my man, who was standing in front of a line of people who wanted entrance to my club, a nod. The big guy touched the earpiece in his ear, said something I didn’t hear, but I didn’t need to hear to know what he was saying.
Grinning, I dropped a quick, soft kiss on Lucy’s lips before pulling her into the club. The usual noise level filled my ears as we entered First Bass. Tiny was where he always was, standing in front of the VIP entrance. He stepped forward as we approached. “Evening, boss. Miss Thornton.”
Lucy clung to my arm and grinned up at the huge man. “Hey, Tiny. Is Kin here yet?”
Tiny didn’t even blink. “I’m not sure, Miss Thornton.”
“Oh…” Lucy frowned. “Okay.”
I pulled her closer against my side. “Don’t worry about her, Lu. I’m sure she’s okay. Come on.” I urged her up the stairs. “I’m thirsty. Let’s get drinks and chill out.”
“Yeah, okay.”
I led the way up, holding her hand. When we reached the top, I turned to face her. She stood on the next-to-last step, a smile on her face, and I couldn’t resist stealing one more. “I love you, Lu.”
She kissed me back, her tongue trying to tempt mine to play with hers a little. I wanted nothing more than to do just that, but we had things that needed our attention. Grasping each side of her waist, I lifted her up the last step and turned her while still kissing her.
Reluctantly, I drew back and set her on her feet…
“Surprise!”
Lucy jerked against me as she turned to face everyone who loved her. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and her hands went to her chest as if she were trying to hold her heart inside her chest. I glanced over her head and grinned at the fifty or so people who I’d let have the run of my club while I’d been out with Lucy that afternoon.
It had been my idea to shut the club down and have Lucy’s surprise party at First Bass, but it had taken Emmie and my stepmom to put everything together for me. Now the place was decorated with at least a thousand purple balloons, streamers in the same color, and a ‘Happy Birthday, Lucy’ banner hanging over the VIP bar.
“What?” Lucy laughed and shook her head as she glanced from her parents and little brothers to the rest of her family. Lana and Drake with their girls, Shane and Harper, Nik along with Emmie and Mia. My dad was there with Natalie and Trinity. Axton and Dallas Cage. Kin and Jace, as well as the rest of Tainted Knights, and plenty more all here to celebrate Lucy’s eighteenth birthday. “Oh my gods.” I heard a catch in her throat as she stepped forward.
“This is… I hate you all. I’m totally going to cry.”
A chorus of laughs filled the room as Jesse and Layla wrapped their arms around their daughter. “Happy birthday, baby.”
“No tears,” Emmie commanded as she stepped forward to take her turn hugging the birthday girl. “Natalie and I planned for everything except tears. So don’t do it,” she teased as she kissed her honorary niece’s cheek. “Love you, sweetheart. Happy birthday.”
While everyone took their turn hugging her, I moved around them and went straight to the bar where Jace was sitting with two of his bandmates. I’d only kept a few of the security staff on tonight to keep everyone outside out and to give the illusion to Lucy that the club was open. A few waitresses had also been asked to work tonight and two bartenders. Nate set a beer down in front of me as I took a seat beside my friend and I gave him a nod in thanks.
“You good?”
I lifted the bottle and swallowed half before setting it down again. “I can barely fucking walk. What does that tell you?”
Jace threw his head back and laughed out loud. “Poor man. I feel your pain, bro. It’s a painful pre-dick-ament.”
I snorted and finished the rest of my beer. When Nate asked if I wanted another I shook my head and turned my attention back to Lucy who was still being swallowed up by the crowd, all of them wanting to show her some love. As if she felt my gaze, her eyes found mine and her face brightened even more.
“Love you,” she mouthed and I winked.
Arms wrapped around my waist and I turned my head to kiss Jenna’s cheek. She’d been home for a little over two weeks now and so far she was doing great. She looked healthy and was acting like the old Jenna I loved so much. I just hoped she stayed that way when I moved out at the end of the month.
I couldn’t stay in our apartment much longer. Not when she was still with Tessa—who thankfully wasn’t in attendance tonight. I’d thought that I’d convinced Jenna that Tessa wasn’t good for her, but she was still on the fence about breaking up with the other girl. All I wanted was for my friend to be happy, but I wasn’t going to hang around and watch while Tessa brought her down again.
“Okay?”
Jenna nodded, her smile bright as she asked Nate for a glass of ice water. “Tomorrow.”
I couldn’t help but frown, she wasn’t making sense to me. “Tomorrow…what?”
“I’m ending things with Tessa tomorrow.” She lifted the glass and took a thirsty swallow before facing me again. “You were right. She’s trouble and now that I’m clean, I can honestly tell you that I don’t think I was ever in love with her. I was infatuated and in some deep lust, but it was the drugs that made me think it was love.”
My mouth gaped open for a moment before I forced it closed. Looking at her, seeing how natural she was, I realized that she was really going to do it. If she had just been saying it to convince me to stay at our apartment, I was sure that I would have known. Her eyes always shifted and she would tap her finger when she was pretending. “Do you want me to be there when you do it?”
She shook her head. “Nah, this is something I need to do without you holding my hand. But thanks, Harris. For everything.”
“Jen, you know I would do anything for you. You’re my friend. If you need me, I’ll always be there for you.” It was a promise we’d both made to each other when I’d moved in with her my freshman year of college. We would always have each other’s backs. No matter what.
“I know. Same here.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek before pushing away from the bar. “I’m gonna go hug the birthday girl and then dodge my brothers. They are still curious about where I’ve been the last few months and I’m not ready to tell them the whole truth yet.”
“See you later, Jenna.”
“She’s looking good,” Jace commented beside me. “Think she will fall off the wagon?”
“I hope not,” I muttered as I watched Jenna squeeze her way between Harper Stevenson and a very pregnant Lana to hug Lucy.
Lucy welcomed her warmly, having seen firsthand how much of an improvement Jenna had made in her recovery already. When Jenna hugged her, Lucy hugged her back and I watched my girl’s lips move as she whispered something in Jenna’s ear. The taller girl nodded and stepped back with a sad smile on her face.
“Okay, you two losers,” Grayson Knight grumbled as he stood up from the bar. “I’m here to play a gig for the birthday girl. Not sit around pissing the night away. Let’s go.”
Jace muttered something under his breath but stood. “I don’t get paid enough to have to deal with his mood swings.”
I chuckled. “Suck it up, dude. It’s all worth it.”
“Keep telling me that. I might actually believe you one day.”
Lucy
I couldn’t believe that he’d done this for me.
This was probably the best birthday I’d ever had in my life. Of course I’d said that before. My parents always strove to give me memorable birthdays, but this was different. This was from Harris. I was never going to forget how amazing he made my eighteenth for me.
The party had been going on for over two hours now. Tainted Knights was still playing downstairs and we’d all had a big piece of birthday cake already. I could tell that the few kids who were there were starting to get tired and I couldn’t blame them. After all the excitement of the day, I was fighting my own exhaustion.
All I wanted was to fall into bed and dream of this perfect day…
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the only thing I wanted.
My gaze found Harris across the room. He was sitting on one of the leather couches with his baby sister sitting on the armrest and his dad on his other side. Standing over him was my dad and Axton Cage. They were all grinning, laughing every few minutes, and talking animatedly.
What wouldn’t I give to have Harris drag me downstairs to his office and kiss me breathless?
That thought was still in my mind when Drake stopped beside me. Blue-gray eyes narrowed on me as he gazed down at me. “You with Harris now?”
I laughed at the accusation in his voice. “Somehow I thought it would be Daddy giving me grief over me and Harris, not you, Drake.”
He crossed his arms over his lean chest and I realized that he really had changed a lot since I’d met him when I was six. There weren’t any more dark shadows under those clear eyes—eyes that I could still remember always being bloodshot from all the Jack Daniels he would drink. His hair was a lot longer now than it had been back then with just a little gray streaked through it, but, honestly, I thought that made him all that more intriguing. He and my sister had started out as friends, just like Harris and I, but over a year later he had placed his ring on her finger.
Now he and Lana had three beautiful girls and another on the way. With each new arrival of one of his ‘angels’, Drake Stevenson became an even happier man. If Lana didn’t stop popping out babies I was pretty sure my brother-in-law was going to die of happiness. I was glad, though. I wanted Drake happy. It looked good on him.
“He treating you good?”
“I don’t know. Are you treating my sister good?” We both knew my question was probably the stupidest one ever asked. Drake would leave this Earth worshipping my sister. He glanced at something over my shoulder and, with the way his eyes softened, I knew without looking that he was looking at Lana.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said after a few more seconds of watching Lana. Strong arms enfolded me and pulled me into a tight hug. His lips pressed against my forehead. “Happy birthday, Lucy. Love you, sweet girl.”
I hugged him back, soaking up his love. Jesse Thornton might be my favorite Demon, but Drake was definitely not far behind. Sure, I loved and adored all four of the men who had become such a big part of my life, but there was just something about Drake that would always make me love him a little more than Shane or Nik.
“Hey, stop stealing all the hugs,” Lana’s sweet voice ordered and Drake pulled back just enough so he could pull her into
our hug. She leaned her dark head on her husband’s shoulder and tried to fight back a yawn.
“You guys must be ready to head home.” I touched a hand to her pregnant belly, laughing when my newest little niece kicked against my touch. “You don’t have much longer in there, little angel.”
“I hate to drag everyone away, but it’s already past the girls’ bedtime. And honestly, I’ve been ready for bed since I woke up this morning.” Lana pressed a kiss to my check. “Did you have a good birthday, Lucy?”
Without realizing what I was doing, I glanced over at Harris again. He was hugging Trinity close, most likely telling her goodnight. The sight of him with his little sister like that told me he would make a great father one day. He was a good guy, a strong man. And he was all mine.
“This has been the best birthday ever, Lana.” I hugged her and Drake tight one more time before stepping back. “Thanks for coming, guys. It means so much to me.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it, Lu.”
I stood with them while they gathered their daughters. Unlike the others who had left their younger kids at home, Lana had brought all three of hers. Neveah had recently turned nine—just a few months younger than my brothers—while Heavenleigh was still an itty-bitty at the age of eighteen months, putting Arella in the middle at six years old. Each gave me big hugs and wet kisses before their parents tucked them close and headed home.
As I turned from waving one last time, I nearly walked right into the tall man who had been standing behind me. Two large hands shot out to steady me and I grinned up at a face that was almost a mirror of Harris. “Mr. Cutter.”
Aquamarine eyes were full of amusement as he shook his head, causing his long hair to fall over his shoulder. When he smiled, flashing those damn dimples at me, I realized that this was what Harris would look like when he got older. The Cutter men could have passed for brothers—twins if you were in a dim lighting. “How many times have I asked you to call me Devlin over the years, Lucy?”
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